Dodge City woman injured after vehicle lands in creek off highway near Emporia

Officials: Woman fell asleep at the wheel

EMPORIA — A Dodge City woman was taken to a hospital Friday after being found trapped inside a vehicle off US-50 highway near Emporia.

Lyon County sheriff’s deputies responded about 2:10 p.m. to the one-vehicle crash, according to a news release.

When deputies arrived, they found the driver, Laurie Terveen-Arreola, 52, trapped inside the vehicle in a shallow creek.

Emporia fire and emergency medical service personnel arrived and were able to extricate Terveen-Arreola, who was then taken by helicopter to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center in Topeka for treatment of unknown injuries.

Lyon County authorities determined that Terveen-Arreola had fallen asleep while driving. Her vehicle left the roadway and landed in the creek. She was wearing a seat belt.

Three Emporia firefighters were taken to Newman Regional Health for evaluation for possible frostbite to their feet. The firefighters were standing in the creek during the extrication process, which took about an hour.